15th of December 2005 was a historical day for the Iraqi people when they could vote for the first time in a free referendum for the draft of the new constitution. The result showed that 79% accepted it. The Iraqi constitution has been criticized by many for its Islamic ascendancy. By giving Islam the role as the source for legislation, will make the situation worse for the Iraqi women, so it has been said.My aim with this Master thesis is not to evaluate weather or not Islam as a religion will undermine women's roll in the society. My ambition is rather to examine the constitution in order to see which kind of theory of citizenship it is inspired from and how will it affect the situation of the Iraqi women.

Det organiserade våldet i Colombia har på senare år förändrat karaktär och med utgångspunkt i den krigs- och konfliktteoretiska debatten skulle många fråga sig om denna förändring är så fundamental att det går att tala om en förändring av det organiserade våldets grundläggande logik. Det är just denna undran som har legat till grund för genomförandet av vår studie. Med utgångspunkt i de mest inflytelserika teoriernas grundläggande ståndpunkter har vi gjort en uppdelning vilket gör det möjligt att pröva om denna förändring har skett. I Colombias fall har det visat sig att landets integration i globaliseringsprocessen har förändrat de politiska och ekonomiska strukturer som omsluter den väpnade konflikten. Samtidigt förblir kampen om den statliga makten central för konfliktens utveckling.

Uppsatsens frågeställning är: På vilket sätt kan demokratisering fungera som konfliktlösningsmekanism efter folkmordet i Rwanda?Folkmordet i Rwanda kan ses i ljuset av att det var ett inbördeskrig med etniska grunder. För att lösa konflikter av denna typ driver vi tesen att demokratisering är den konfliktlösningsmekanism som är mest lämpad på sikt. Vi applicerar teorier från konfliktlösning och demokratisering, och kombinerar dessa för att nå svar på vår frågeställning. Consociationalteorin är vår huvudsakliga teori, då den är utvecklad för etniskt splittrade samhällen.

Uppsatsens syfte är att besvara vad som föranleder våldsamma yttringar, likt upploppen i Paris 2005 och Rosengård 2005. Jämförelsen mellan Paris och Rosengård medför en följdfråga om det finns liknande tendenser i Rosengård att fullskaliga upplopp likt de i Paris kan äga rum.Vi använder oss av en teori som bygger på att det saknas tillit mellan etniska grupper och majoritetsbefolkningen som kombinerat med en social utsatthet bildar en problematisk bild. Dessa två faktorer, brist av tillit och utsatthet, skapar ett spelrum för missnöje vilket kan yttra sig i våldsamheter. Det förefaller för oss vara faktorer vilka livnär sig av varandra, likt en ond cirkel. Variation finns emellertid mellan olika områden, där skillnader i graden av misstro och utsatthet visar på två olika situationer.

This essay deals with the paradox of why the immigrants in Sweden, despite their considerable size of 12 % of the population and common interest and living opportunities, haven?t mobilized politically in any significant way. The aim with this essay is to reach a theoretical understanding of why this paradox exist. By the use of a critical case and a theoretical model, based on theories of collective action, the conclusion of this essay is that, despite the fact that the immigrants have a common interest and an organizational structure, the immigrants in Sweden has not mobilized politically in any significant way. The main reason for this is that they have a weak common identity and they don?t have the structural opportunities to act..

Varför vann Hamas valet? Valresultatet som blivit så uppmärksammat och ifrågasatt av omvärlden vill vi undersöka. Vårt syfte är att hitta en förklaring till varför det palestinska folket röstade på ett av omvärlden terrorstämplat parti. I vår undersökning utgår vi från fyra olika väljarteorier som kan härledas till den politiska kontexten. Teorierna förklarar valresultat utifrån 1) ideologisk närhet 2) politisk agenda 3) tydlighet i kommunikation av ståndpunkter 4) partiernas kompetens.

In the world after the Cold War, internal and ethnic conflicts have been predominant. Ethnic conflicts have their own theories on why they erupt and what can be done to solve them. This essay seeks to analyze how the Ethnic Security Dilemma can explain the causes, and possible solutions, of today´s armed ethnic conflicts.By making an ideal types typology over different types of ethnic conflicts, and then analyzing the Ethnic Security Dilemma´s impact on each conflict type.

To create fair conditions between majority and minority in Sweden is a challeging project. Male immigrants usually do not get same opportunities for a success identity structure and integration into Swedish society as women and children. The aim of this thesis is therefore to critically examine and analyse the processes regarding identity structure and integration for male immigrants with a specific focus on Helsingborg. The object of this study is Mansgrupp, a project which helps men to build up a secure ground for identity structure and which further helps them to integrate into the society. To be able to reach the results I have made a literature study as well as a minor field study in Helsingborg, where I conducted interviews with men from the above mentioned project.

During the last years a discussion has emerged around problems with Swedish state boards trying to influence the public opinion and even political bodies through different kind of information efforts. Several observers inside and outside the academy have studied how state boards increasingly use information as an instrument and also how political bodies increasingly have given such instructions to state boards. This essay put those studies into the context of both information political history and previous theoretical interpretations in that field of research.The analytical tool consists of four ideal typical ways ('state opinions') to arrange relations between the state and the citizen. Some critics focus on problems with too much political steering and how political majorities uses state boards to spread ideological propaganda. Others highlight problems with autonomy and bureaucratic organizations taking initiatives by themselves to spread normative information.

In this thesis we have tried to answer the question of whether or not the peaceorganizations working in Israel and Palestine have an impact. We have answered the question by analyzing six different organizations; three who work with children and the other three with women issues. The analysis contains a case study of each organization and then a comparison between the two groups. This study is built on theories about; grassroots organizations, women in organizations and intergroup communication. Our conclusions in this thesis show that there are some similarities between the groups as well as there are differences.

There are lots of theories about participatory democracy, but rather few examples of how to create it in practice. In the 1930´s, scientists at the Chicago School, implemented some projects within the Chicago Area Project, with the aim to decrease the youth delinquency in the socio disadvantaged areas surrounding Chicago. In this thesis, I assess wether these projects, and in particular the one at the Russell Square Area, have some common features with the thoughts of two of the most famous participatory democrats, Carole Pateman and Benjamin Barber. My question is if the Chicago Area Project could be seen as an experiment in participatory democracy. I find that participatory democrats could benefit from the experiences of the Chicago Area Project.

Bolivia is a multiethnic country where the indigenous people constitute the majority of the population. Despite two decades of attempts to take the democracy further is its foundation more volatile than ever. The aim of this bachelor thesis is to examine if exclusion is taken place in Bolivia from year 1982 until today and if so in which way political exclusion constitute problems of democracy in Bolivia. The answer depends on the understanding of democracy used in the analysis. In this thesis I use theories of process-, participation- and deliberative democracy.

Since the breakdown of the Soviet Union, more than fifteen revolutionary yearshave passed. Estonia and Latvia have undergone a change from communist statesto members of the European Union. As in so many other post-communist statescorruption has been a problem. However, Estonia has since the independence hada lower degree of corruption than the neighbour country Latvia. The main purposeof this thesis is to explain why so.

The number of blogs, from weblogs, are increasing every day. Blogs are also becoming more visible in the public debate as well as the awareness of their existance is rising among politicians and citizens. The aim of this thesis is to answer the question what democratic potential blogs can have. This question will be answered by initially studying the research that exists today about weblogs and democracy. The second part of the analysis consists of a selection of texts from weblogs that touches this subject.

Den 11 september 2001 innebar början på en stor förändring i amerikansk inrikes och utrikespolitik. I kriget mot terrorismen har en omfattande diskriminering skett av icke-amerikanska medborgare både inom landets gränser såväl som utanför. För att rättfärdiga detta för sitt eget folk samt det internationella samfundet har man i politiken och retoriken skapat bilden av "den andre" som ett potentiellt hot mot den amerikanska säkerheten. Våra två frågeställningar behandlar skapandet av "den andre" som används för att rättfärdiga agerandet efter 11 september.Målet i uppsatsen är inte bara att besvara frågeställningarna utan också att ge en djupare insikt i varför svaren ser ut som de gör. Våra angreppssätt och valda metoder har sina begränsningar men trots det anser vi att dessa kan erbjuda en ny synvinkel på USA:s agerande efter 11 september..